SportFish 1850 w/150 OptiMax??

[TUMBLEWEED]

Any of my fellow SportFish owners running
a 150 OptiMax motor?? I am having some
trouble getting the thing properly
propped up. I am currently using a 19
degree aluminum prop, and am having quite
a bit of cavitation when doing turns
while tubing. It also happens while
just out cruising and I turn one way or the
other. I have to throttle down and reduce
the sharpness of the turn to get it to stop.
Anyone else seeing this in their rigs??
What are your props you are using??

[upnorth]

Sounds like you may be trimmed out to far. I have the same issue if I trimmed way out and take a tight corner.

Try backing off the trim and see if that helps.

[TUMBLEWEED]

Nope, she is all the way down!! I called
up the Mercury site and they said to
check the cavitation plate on the motor.
It should be even with the bottom of the
boat. This is done by the dealer at the
time of install........

[Northlander]

Try a stainless that should take that away in the corners. thats a lot of tork on a Aluminum.

[LocalGuide]

Ya, we have a 140 4-stroke Johnson on our 185 tourny pro Alumacraft. We switched over to a stainless steel prop from a factory installed aluminum. What a world of difference in the corners and top end speed. I can trim the motor all the way up and have it wide open and take a fairly sharp corner. Now you do lose some control in a decent chop by taking corners at full trim so be careful there. But otherwise im pretty sure that would be a good way to solve that issue.

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And keep those hooks sharp!

[cdnfisherman]

Tumbleweed

Just wondering how you like your setup with that boat and motor....I am looking at placing an order soon for that exact boat and motor.

Thanks.

[TUMBLEWEED]

A couple of things. The OptiMax rocks!!
No complaints there at all. The 1850
SportFish is a nice package. I really like
the no rivet hull design and it gives
you a dry ride as well. I didn't go
with a kicker yet, but am leaning towards
a 4 stroke Mercury with electric trim
and start. Either a 9.9 or an 8hp. They
should be out in another few weeks with
the new model with the intergrated lift.

You will note there is not a lot of storage
on this boat, and the rod locker has some
pretty lame hardware set-up to hold your poles. Other than that, I am very pleased
with it. It is fast to go from a sporty
boat to a fishing machine with it's flip
down seating options.

I will be asking the dealer to lower the
OptiMax to the lowest setting on the
cavitation plate (it is one hole off).
If this does not fix my cavitation in
the turns, I will go to a 4 blade
aluminum,18 degree prop. I will post
back when I solve the issue....

[Ole1855]

Tumble,
I have a ProV 1890, 175 EFI with a High 5, 21 pitch and I don't have any of the problems you are talking about, I think the SS makes a huge difference.

Ole

------------------
Olson Insurance Agency
[email protected]
952-224-4774

[cdnfisherman]

Tumbleweed:

Did you get hydraulic steering?

What type of trailer?

Any options that you wished you would have got and didn't?

Thanks.

[TUMBLEWEED]

Ole1855 The dealer said no deal on a 21
degree?? States the 19 is the way to go.
A stainless would be nice 490.00 bucks
for a 19 degree 3 blade. I would really be
steamed if'n it still bogged out in the
turns I am bringing it back in to
the dealer in the morning. They claim
30 or so out there with the same motor
have no problems?? Maybe I had a bad prop from the start??

CDN I went with the custom Rolco trailer.
It is loaded up with surge brakes, chrome
wheels, Eagle hubs, and tortion suspension.
It is a breeze to load and unload, plus
pulls easy down the road, and stops on a
dime.

The boat: I opted for a dual bank charger,
65lb 24volt bow mount. Yes, I went with
the hydrualic steering. It has a bimini
but I didn't get the side curtains and
wish I had now. And I didn't get a ski
and tubing tripod, and wish I had. It came
with a marine cd/am/fm tuner. It also came with an graph that I gave to a Buddy and installed my X85 in place of.

[cdnfisherman]

Thanks for the info!

[TUMBLEWEED]

Update, The dealer lowered the moter down
one notch and it corners without any cavitation now!!